Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1887-03-19
A BEAR HUNT


had Just arrived at Yanks from "Sports.
mans Hall" with the Overland "Pony Ex.
press" and, after seeing Sam H. and his
favorite horse ''.he Baby" disappear IN the
darkness with said express. and seeing that
my own jaded steed had been duly blanketed
and cared for BY the groom, entered Yank's
famous hostelry, feeling that my long ride
through mud and snow over the western sum-
init Of the Seinas had earned me few
hours rest before the genial blaze Of the tam
arac logs in the huge fireplace. Before l had
succeeded in discarding my spurs, frozen
leggins and overshoes, Mart. Spurbeck en-
tered from the dining room with ''hullo,
old boy, just the man ] am looking for; bur,
ry up and eat your supper and I'll tell you
all about it," After paying due attention TO
Yank's mountain trout, I entered the bar.
room and found Mart to all appearance pre-.
pared for an extended prospecting trip. 1t
took considerable sparring on my part to
learn what his intentions really were, and
what role was to take in the tragedy that
it was apparent from the miniature arsenal in
sight, was about to be enacted. To be 5lief
Mart. had been down the riyer--the little
Truckee, the principal feeder Of Lake Tahoe
duck hunting, and had found fresh bear
tracks at Humphreys ranch two miles be.
low, and our .picnic was simply to kill that
bear. A very simple thing. truly, for two
men who had never seen a bear outside Of q
menagerie, and one of whom was sure did
not banker to see one, especially this one,
for Mart. said he made track that even
Yank's boots wouldn't begin to fill. But
when Mart. explained the strategy he pro
posed to use the plan appeared feasible. He
said there was an old carcass Of deer in the
corral which the bear evidently visited nights,
and as the corral adjoined the rear Of the old
log cabin, why, all we had to do was to get
there before his bearship, enter the cabin,
build FIRE, take a smoke, s'prepare for a
possible bite"-he had taken the precaution
to bring bottle Of whiskey for emergencies
wait for Mr.. Bruin, and as there was a
good moon shoot him right from the cabin
window. said that looked simple enough,
but suppose the bear should learn that we
were in the cabin, surround it and hold us
prisoners1 Why, couldn't we shoot him
while he was doing it, said Mart. Yes,
suppose so. Il we happened to think of it, l
replied. Well, we got there before the bear,
built FIRE and made everything fast. There
were two half windows in the cabin, one in
the rear from which we could plainly see the
carcass and in good shooting distance, the
other one in front, facing the river, and only
separated from it by pathway. We had
been there some tive hours perhaps; had
smoked, chatted and prepared for several
possible bites, when saw Mart's countenance
suddenly change from the hue Of freshly
kissed maiden. to that Of tse maiden who
got left. l followed the direction Of his eyes
and there at the front window was an ele :.
plant, at first thought, calmly surveying
US and our surroundings. II wasn't an ele
plant, but large black bear seemingly TAX
ing an inventory Of the inside of the cabin.
do not think that either Of us drew breath
during the several minutes that the bear was
silently interviewing US through the window.
He finally dropped down and disappeared,
much to my relief at least, and Mart's too, l
think. There, said I, as soon as the power
of speech returned he has got US surround.
ed and we didn't shoot him. You was right,
said Mart. never thought of it, but maybe
ell take another look. He did not, how.
ever. but ten minutes later was eating his
supper of dried beef in the corral. Having
recovered our senses in measure we both
fred at the word from the window and wound.
ed him severely as the sequel proved. He
gave savage growl and slowly moved away;
clumsily climbing the corral fence he disap-
peared in the timber. After reloading we
ventured out and found that we had not
missed him as there was plenty Of blood on
the snow and on the fence. but we discreetly
concluded to wait till the morrow before fol-
lowing him up. We had no difficulty the
next day in finding and following his trail,
which led US into the timber about two miles
and ended in a large thick bunch Of mama
nita ehsparral. We were sure he was in
there for we could hear him snore, but how
to get him out was the question. am not
sure that either OF us wanted him to come
out very badly; know that one Of us did
not. had climbed all the trees surround
ing the chaparral, but it was so dense that
nothing could be seen. 1t was evident that
one or US must 60 IN and either kill him or
drive him out, but which onef We came
near quarrelling we were both SO anxious to
-to-stay out. We discreetly compromised
it by both staying out. now said to Mart.
that doubtless Shakespeare was right, and that
discretion was an excellent thing. but in my